THE DEMAND FOR HORTICULTURAL PRODUCE AND DEVELOPMENT IN THE PATTERN OF TRADE IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

The total market for fruit, vegetables, and flowers from home and overseas sources now runs at some £400 million per year. The market has expanded by about 30 percent in the last ten years and this expansion is likely to continue in future. Rather more than three quarters of all produce comes from temperate countries, and supplies of temperated produce have increased by 44 percent in the last ten years. The market supplies a population of 56 million whose purchasing power for horticultural produce is expanding faster than the population, estimated as 69 million in the year 2000.

The very high degree of competition which exists in the U.K. market for horticultural produce (despite import restrictions) is perhaps its most singly important characteristic. Some two thirds of the vegetables (including tomatoes), rather more than half of the fruit, and three quarters of the flowers, sold in Britain are home grown. Home grown supplies now account for 62 percent of the total, rather less than ten years ago (68 percent).

There have been big changes in the pattern of home production. Vegetables grown in the open have increased (at current prices) by fifty percent over the last ten years, and by one third in quantity. By contrast, glasshouse vegetables have increased by only 20 percent in value and by 7 percent in quantity. Flowers grown under glass have more than doubled in value and outdoor flowers have greatly increased. Orchard fruit (at current prices) has remained more or less static and soft fruit production has only shown a slight increase.